Queal Go Bars are better than ever...

Article

Recently I snagged a few of Queal’s updated Go Bars and gave them a taste test. I used these as my main snack for about a week and as of today, they’re two of my favourite nutritionally complete snack options available – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

If you’re not familiar with Queal they’re based in The Netherlands and have been on the market since 2014. With three lines of Powdered meals, nutritionally complete Instant Oats, a Nootropic, and of course the Go Bars I’m writing about here, they describe their mission as making people’s lives more effective and improving health by getting a simple and top-quality nutritional option in every household.

In my view: Queal keep innovating, they listen to their customers, and they’re great at what they do.

The new Bars really build upon the success of the original Go Bars and the WundrBars before them, but with some big changes. Nuts & Sea-salt sees the salt going in favour of Apricot, whilst Dark Chocolate has been heavily reworked and is a very different beast. Calorie levels have also been reduced so they’re now less of a meal and sit properly as a snack.

Go Bars Quick look

Nuts & Apricot is the perfect savoury bar for those who also have a sweet tooth. A crunchy and sturdy bar with a satisfying, fruity bite. Dark Chocolate is rich in flavour and has a softer bite.

Ingredients

Queal didn’t simply produce two flavours of the same bar when they created the Go Bars; instead they went all the way with significantly different macro splits and radically different compositions.

The updated Go Bars still have different ingredients and compositions, but the macro’s are a little more inline with each other and the main difference is the amount of carbs.

Nutrition Facts

50g Queal Go Nuts & Apricot

Amount Per Serving

Calories 207

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10.8

Saturated Fat 1.5

Cholesterol 0

Salt 0.15g

Total Carbohydrates 16

Dietary Fiber 5.1

Sugars 7.3

Protein 9.4

The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used as a baseline with DV’s from UK health advice.
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INGREDIENTS: Apricot, glucose syrup, peanuts, soy protein isolate, vegetable fibre, pumpkin seeds, oat flakes, cashew nuts, vegetable oil (linseed), vitamin & mineral mix (tri-potassium citrate, di-calciumphosphate, potassium chloride, maltodextrin, magnesium oxide, di-potassium phosphate, vitamin C, ferric pyrophosphate, vitamin E, zinc sulphate, folic acid, potassium iodide, nicotinamide, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite, vitamin A, vitamin K, calcium-d-panthothenate, manganese sulphate, d-biotin, chromium-III-chloride, copper sulphate, vitamin B12, vitamin D2, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, vitamin B1), almonds, hazelnut, chia seeds, rice flour, bakers salt.

Nutrition Facts correct as of 10th December 2019.

Data not available

Nutrition Facts

50g Queal Go Dark Chocolate

Amount Per Serving

Calories 195

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6

Saturated Fat 2

Cholesterol 0

Salt 0.45g

Total Carbohydrates 22

Dietary Fiber 4.9

Sugars 8.7

Protein 10.5

The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used as a baseline with DV’s from UK health advice.
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INGREDIENTS: Soy protein isolate, glucose syrup, chicory root fiber, dates, maltodextrin, vegetable oil (flaxseed), coconut oil, glycerin, caramel pieces (sugar, cacao butter, rice starch, sea salt), dark chocolate chips (cacao, cacao butter, sugar), soy protein crisps (soy protein isolate, rice flour), cacao, vitamin & mineral mix (tri-potassium citrate, di-calcium phosphate, chloride, maltodextrin, magnesium oxide, di-potassium phosphate, vitamin C, ferric pyrophosphate, vitamin E, zinc sulphate, folic acid, potassium iodide, nicotinamide, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite, vitamin A, vitamin K, calcium-d-pantothenate, manganese sulphate, d-biotin, chromium-III-chloride, copper sulphate, vitamin B12, vitamin D2, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, vitamin B1), modified starch, emulsifier: (soy lecithin), food acid: (citric acid), natural aroma.

Nutrition Facts correct as of 10th December 2019.

Data not available

Allergens

This is another area that the new Go bars have made huge strides and each now suffers much less on the allergen list. Apricot and Nuts obviously contain various nuts (peanuts, cashew, almonds, Hazelnut) along with Soy and Oats. Dark Chocolate fairs better containing only Soy as an allergen.

Both are however made in a factory that also handles lupine, egg, milk and sesame seed products.

Anything else worth mentioning?

Yes! Whereas previously the Nuts & Seasalt was mostly vegan, the Dark Chocolate wasn’t at all. Now both Go Bars bring their protein from Soy Isolate and the vitamin D3 source has changed making both Go Bars fully vegan.

Taste Test

So I’ve talked a lot about what’s in them, how did I actually find them when I spent my week snacking with Queal? Both are enjoyable to eat, but there was a clear winner in my mind.

Dark Chocolate is definitely my favourite

This bar has seen the most significant changes of the two and where the original Dark Chocolate Go Bar was made of several distinct layers, these are now a solid mass of goodness embedded with chocolate chips.

The updated texture isn’t cereally anymore and, to me, it’s very akin to chewy cookie dough. It’s not arduous to eat like some Complete Food bars and the chocolate chips add a really crunch. In short: it feels like a genuine treat and I love it.

Nuts & Apricot tastes healthy, but delicious

Sea-salt is gone so the taste is obviously less salty but the format hasn’t changed massively from the original version.

The granola crunchiness is still there and happily it still doesn’t fall to pieces in your mouth when you take a bite. There’s a glaze that stops the mouthfeel being dry too.

Overall it really reminds me of Tracker bars I ate as a child and the mix of apricot and the various nuts is nicely balanced and consistent across the bars I tried.

Overall

The original GO bars were great, but these are definitely better. The flavours in both seem more natural and I really like that the two bars are so different from each other and hit different spots for my snacking needs.

I loved the Dark Chocolate and I’m really impressed with the move to fully vegan ingredients. I also really liked the reduction in calories as that means they aren’t ‘almost a meal’ now, and work far better as a snack – and of course the reduction in price doesn’t hurt either.

Alternatives?

There are of course a fair few Complete Food bars available. Some are better than others of course, and right now I’d say your Go Bars are more than worthy of your attention.